The campus, which is based in the south of the Malay Peninsular close to Singapore, plans to admit around 60 students in October 2012 for its four-year master of mechanical engineering programme.

Students will be able to study in English in Malaysia for the first two years of the programme before transferring to the UK campus for the last two years.

The campus is being established on a regional development called EduCity, with Southampton being the second UK university to establish a presence there.

A medical school set up by Newcastle University, also its first overseas campus, opened its doors this month on the site.

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Don Nutbeam, Southampton¡¯s vice-chancellor, said that achieving education accreditation 10 months after signing an agreement to open the campus was a ¡°tribute to the hard work of the project team¡±.

¡°The university is excited to be associated with the innovative EduCity development that brings together a host of world-leading educational institutions in a unique research and learning environment,¡± he said.

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Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim, president of Iskandar Investment Berhad, the company behind EduCity, said the Southampton campus would help address a shortage of engineers in Malaysia and ¡°nurture the next generation of industry leaders¡±.

Meanwhile, David Willetts, the universities and science minister, has hosted an official launch event in the Indian city of Bangalore to mark agreements between the University of Exeter and other higher education institutions in the city.

Exeter, which has been in the process of building representation in the city, has signed memoranda of understanding with the Indian Institute of Management, the Indian Institute of Science and the National Institute of Advanced Studies.

simon.baker@tsleducation.com